Picker stick check



April 17, 1951 S. K. TAYLOR PICKER STICK CHECK Filed April 29, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 25 p 38 30 0 4 I ll IE E 55 B QTTORNEXS INVENTOR. SHMUEL K. TqyLoR April 17, 1951 5, TAYLOR 2,549,262

PICKER STICK CHECK Filed April 29, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 6AM UEL K. 7FWL0R W d n 5% HTTOR NE'YS Patented Apr. 117, 1 951 OFFICE rroxnn "STICK onncx SamuelK. Taylor, Cleveland Heights, Ohio Application April 29, 1947,"Serial No. 744,631

.18 Claims. (01. 139-463) V 'lhis invention relates to picker stick checks, that is means for checking the motion of the picker stick and with it the loom shuttle :as the latter approaches the :end of its travel in either direction across the loom. The conventional means for :this purpose comprises a leather strap which tends to Wear rapidly, must be readjusted at frequent intervals and :must be replaced after a comparatively short period of use. The delays caused by these difliculties decrease the productivity of a loom, which is a relatively expensive machine. Furthermore the duty of the checking means varies more or less during normal operation, :as by changes in shuttle speed or mass.

Anobject of the present invention is the provision .of .a novel check means which shall require no manual adjustment, which shall automatically compensate (for differences in inertia of the shuttle and in which wear and replacement on account of wear will be insignificant.

Another object .is the provision of a picker stick check which shall automatically maintain the desired checking ability regardless of any .factors in the operation of the machine whichmay tend to vary the load upon the checking means, as for example changes in the mass or speed of the shuttle.

Still another object of the invention :is the provision of means for relieving the :efiect of the checking means on the inboard stroke of the picker stick. v

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as I proceed with the description of those embodiments of the invention which, for the purposes of the present application, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is an elevational view, somewhat dia- .grammatic :in character, of a portion of a lay embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the check.

.Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical sectional views taken substantially on the lines 33 and 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 illustrating especially the ratchets and 'pawls employed for varying the spacing of the friction plates between which the picker stick moves.

Fig. 6 is a plan view similar to Fig. -2 of a modifled form of check, and

Figs. 7 and 8 are vertical sectionl views taken respectively on the'lines 1-1 and 8-8 of Fig. 6.

In'the drawing 10 represents the base of a loom carrying two 'ormore bearings I l in which a shaft .12 is oscillatable. 13 .represents 'one of aplurality .of arms fixed. upon shaft [2 supporting a track 14 with :a guide .115 along which the shuttle 1:6 travels from one binder box I! to the other. In order to simplify the illustration one sidev only of the layisrshown.

One of the picker sticks is illustrated at 18. It is provid-ed'with a picker head I9 and is diagram- .maticallyillustratedas provided with a'slot 20 at its lower endreceiving apin 2| extending through the shaft 12, whereby the picker head 19 may remain at the level of the binder box as it travels t-herethrough regardless of the angle of the picker stick. Conventional operating means Ior sdriving the picker stick in the inboard direction :is indicated by a power strap 23. 'The return ,of the picker stick thereafter to its intermediate position shown in full iline in Fig. 1 :may be effected by suitable spring means diagrammatically indicated at 24 in that figure.

At each endof track J4 there is a bracket means comprising a pair of angles 25 which depend .from the track on opposite sides of the plane of movement of the stick. These angles carry downwardly projecting Z-shaped arms 26. In this bracket means there is mounted a rigid housing or girame '21 which carries the assembly of parts making up the :picker stick check of this invention. I

A pair of parallel pivot pins 30 carried by housing .21 extend through bars 3|. Sheet metal plates 32 are secured to and extend inwardly ;-from these bars 31. In effect the bars .3i constitute par-ts of the plates .32, and the term plates as hereinafter employed should be understood to include these bars. jIheplates 32 are flared apart at their inboard ends orderto guide the picker stick into the vspace :between them as it swings to the left as viewed in the drawing. The plates are adapted to swing upon the pins 30 to a limited extent .so that they may present variable degrees of friction .to .the moving stick, and the latter is provided with an armor in ,the form of a U-shaped guard 34, the legs of the -.U being spaced apartsomewhat runner than the thick- .nessdimensiono'f the picker stick 18. The guard is mounted by means of a .s'inglejbolt 35 extending thrQugh the .stickand through, that part .of the U-shaped guard which joins thelegs of the U. Byreason of this construction theguard is freeto turn to alimited extent upon the bolt .35 and thus to adjust "itself to compensate for any slight out-.of parallelism with the plates.

The pins 30 are ,free to ,move camslots 3] formed .in the top and bottom members oihous- I thus to spread the plates 32.

. 3 ing 21 and in the bracket members 25 and 26 attached thereto. The pins are urged toward the outboard end of slots 31 by S springs 38 construction any movement of the bars 3| and plates 32 in the inboard direction causes pins to move'incam slots 31, thereby spreading the plates 32 apart to a slight extent and relieving friction between the plates and the picker stick during travel of the latter in the inboard direc tion. 7

Coil springs 4|) disposed between the bars 3|- and the side members of housing 21 on the o tboard side of pivots 30 tend to swing the outboard ends of bar 3| toward each other" and- Upstanding pivot pins 4| are mounted in the outboard ends of bars 3|. These pins are drilled horizontally to receive-loosely a transverse rod 42 that may befprovided with ya knurled head 43 for convenience in assembly. The outer ends of bars 3| are slotted, as indicated at 44in Figs. 3 and 4, to clear rod 42. V 1

A ratchet 45 surrounds rod 42 and its hub is secured to the rod, as by means of apin 46. A second-ratchet 41 having half the number of teeth of ratchet 45 is threadably mounted on the rod- 42. It will be observed that rotation of ratchet 45 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in the drawing-threads the rod 42 into 'the ratchet 41, thus tending to bring the ratchets together, whereas rotation of ratchet 41 also in a counterclockwise direction causes that ratchet to move away from ratchet 45. The hubs of the ratchets bear against the two bars 3|. Therefore as the ratchets move away from each other due'to rotation of ratchet41 the bar 3| are separated, while as the ratchets move toward each other due to' rotation of ratchet 45 springs movethe bars 3| toward each other.

Ratchet 41 is rotated by means of a spring pa-wl 5|] secured to a plunger 5| which is mounted to slidethrough a hole in block 52 secured to the bottom of the housing 21; This plunger is biased toward the right, as viewed in the draw- "ing;by a coil spring 53 bearing atone end against block 52 and at the other end against a head 54 on the plunger. In order to make the length of the plunger adjustable, its inboard end is drilled and tapped to receive a screw 55 which may be held against accidental rotation by a lock nut 56. In those instances inwhich the blow delivered by the shuttle against the picker head l9 causes the stick IE to slide plunger 5| to the left far enough to engage a tooth of ratchet 41, as indicated in Fig. 4, spring 53 will operate plunger 5| and pawl 5|] to rotate the ratchet one tooth in the counterclockwise direction.

A spring pawl 60 for rotating ratchet is fixed at its inboard end to the housing 21. Each time the pickerstick I8 is moved in the inboard ets far' enough to enable pawl 60 to engage a tooth on ratchet 45. Then as the springs 38 return the plates 32 ratchet 45 is rotated one tooth in the counterclockwise direction.

The movement of the check assembly, made up and 41, back and forth, is sufiicient to impart rotation to ratchet 45. The pawl however does not move far enough on every pick to engage a tooth of ratchet 41. When itdoes'engage a tooth the rotation of the ratchet is through an angle double that of ratchet 45, since its teeth are double the size of the teeth of the latter ratchet. Whenever the spacing of plates 32 reduces friction sufficiently to enable stick l8 to travel to the left to apredetermined extent the pawl 50 advances ratchet"41 and thereby separating the ratchets and drawing plates 32 to gether to increase the friction which they exert on the stick. On the next pick, ratchet 45 will be rotated and the grip of plates 32 on the stick will be loosened. Thus the setting of the plates is varied a small increment one way or the other for each pick and an approximately constant friction is maintained against the stick during its travel from intermediate position shown in full lines in Figs. 1, 2. and 3 to its outboard position shown in broken lines at [I in Fig. 1.

defects in the cloth caused by inaccurate check ing are eliminated. 2

V In the modification illustrated in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, the various elements are the same for the most part as in the first, described form of the invention; The frame 21 is hung upon brackets 25 which are attached to the frame by means of screws 65. The pins 66 upon which the bars 3| are pivoted are mounted in a fixed position in the upper and lower members of the frame 21. The pawl 50 is mounted in precisely the'same way as in the first described form, but the pawl 60, instead of being attached to the frame, is

' mounted upon a second plunger 61 which slides of the plates 32, bars 3], rod 42 and ratchets 45 in a bore in the block 52 and is biased toward the right as viewed in the drawing by a coil spring 68 bearing at one end against the block 52 and at the other against the head .69 of the plunger.

In thisform of the invention therefore the plates 32 do not have any bodily movement, but

merely swing through a minut are upon their.

pivots 66. In the inoperative position of the plungers, plunger 61 extends considerably further to the right than the plunger 55, and it is moved to the left on each stroke of the stick far enough to engage one tooth of ratchet 45, so that its return stroke under the influence of spring 68 turns ratchet 45 counterclockwise through an angle corresponding to the angular dimension of a tooth, .or one-twenty-fourth (s s) of a revolution in the case illustrated. Rod 42 is therefore turned counterclockwise through the same angle, and by its threaded connection with the hub of ratchet 41 aided by the springs 40 draws that ratchet toward ratchet 45. This results ina slight spreadingof the plates 32 and a corresponding decreaseof friction between those plates and stick I8. The same reciprocation of stick |8 will move'plunger 5| to the left more or less; but such movement may not be sufiicient to cause pawl 50 to engage a new tooth on ratchet 41. In the usual operation of the device a new tooth of ratchet 41 will be engaged on every other reciprocation of the stick, and as there are .half as many teeth in ratchet 41 as in ratchet 45 the distance between plates 32 will average the same. However if anythingtoccurs during the operation of the machine which tends to'afiect the opera-. tion of the check, so that the degree of friction exerted by the plates 32 needs to be altered in order to maintain the desired checking action, one or the other of the ratchets will be advanced one tooth more than normal, or even a tooth in Thus the shuttle is checked smoothly and eifectively, and

, each of more than one consecutive strokes, to bring about the necessary friction change.

1 As a result of the invention the operation of the loom proceeds indefinitely without the occasional work stoppages which must be resorted to in looms provided with conventional checking means in order to make adjustments of the checks.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a loom, means for checking outward movement of the picker stick in response to a blow delivered to the picker head by th shuttle, which comprises settable means for engaging the picker stick and dampening its outward travel, the checking eiiect of said means being due to frictional action, and automatic means responsive to the degree of checking eifect exerted upon the picker stick during its outward travel for varying the setting of said dampening means upon the inward travel of the picker stick.

2. In a loom, means for checking outward movement of the picker stick in response to a blow delivered to the picker head by the shuttle, which'comprises a pair of plates between which I the stick travels and by which its motion may be dampened frictionally, and automatic means responsive to the friction exerted by said plates upon the moving stick for varying the spacin of said plates to maintain the checking effect substantially constant throughout a period of consecutive picks.

3. Mechanism as defined in claim 2, comprising parallel pivots for said plates, and resilient means spaced from said pivots tending to swing said plates on their pivots in opposite directions. 3 lpMechanism as defined in claim 2, comprising parallel pivots for said plates, and resilient means disposed outwardly of said pivots tending to swing the inner ends of said plates away from each other.

5. In a loom having a lay and bracket means rigid therewith, two parallel pivots on said bracket means disposed in a plane transverse to the length of the lay, means for checking outward movement of a picker stick in response to a blow delivered to the picker head by the shuttle, which comprises a pair of plates mounted on said pivots, between which plates the stick travels and by which its motion may be dampened frictionally, automatic means responsive to the friction exerted by said plates upon the moving stick and acting upon the plates outwardly of said pivots for varying the spacing of said plates to maintain th checking effect substantially constant throughout a period of consecutive picks, and resilient means actin upon said pair of plates to hold them inline with the path of travel of the stick.

6. Mechanism as defined in claim 5, wherein said automatic means comprises two ratchets; one functioning during step by step rotation to spread the outer ends of said plates and the other functioning by its similar rotation to draw them together, and pawls responsive to the movements of said stick for rotating said ratchets.

'7. Mechanism as defined in claim 6, wherein the pivots for said plates are yieldably mounted to permit limited movement inwardly, and wherein one of said pawls is attached to said bracket means and the other is reciprocable in said bracket means.

8. In a loom having a lay and bracket means rigid therewith, two parallel pivots on said brack et means disposed in a plane transverse to the length of the lay, means for checking outward state 6 movement of the picker stick in response to a blow delivered to the picker head by the shuttle, which comprises a pair of plates mounted on said pivots, between which plates the stick travels and by which its motion may be dampened frictionally, automatic means responsive to the friction exerted by said plates upon the moving stick and acting upon the plates outwardly of said pivots for varying the spacing of said plates to maintain the checking effect substantially constant throughout a period of consecutive picks, said automatic means comprising a shaft extending crosswise of the outer ends of said plates, a ratchet pinned to said shaft between said plates, 'a second ratchet threaded upon said shaft between said first ratchet and the other of said plates, and pawls responsive to the movements of said stick for rotating said ratchets.

9. Mechanism as defined in claim 8, wherein the pivots for said plates are yieldably mounted to permit limited movement inwardly, and wherein one of said pawls is attached to said bracket means and the other is reciprocable in said bracket means. a

10. In a loom having a lay and bracket means rigid therewith, two parallel pivots on said bracket means disposed in a plane transverse to the length of the lay, means for checking outward movement of a picker stick in response to a blow delivered to the picker head by th shuttle, which comprises a pair of plates mounted on said pivots, between which plates the stick travels and by which its motion may be dampened frictionally, automatic means responsive to th friction exerted by said plates on the movingstick and acting upon the plates outwardly of said pivots for varying the spacing of said plates to maintain the checking effect substantially constant throughout a period of consecutive picks,

said automatic means comprising a shaft extending crosswise of the outer ends of said plates, a ratchet pinned to said shaft between said plates, a second ratchet threaded upon said shaft between said first ratchet and the other of said plates, pawls responsive to the movements of said stick for'rotating said ratchets, said firstnamed ratchet having twice the number of teeth as the second ratchet, the pawl acting upon the ratchet with the greater number of teeth turning its ratchet one tooth at each pick, and the pawl acting upon the ratchet with the smaller number of teeth turning its ratchet one tooth whenever the stick moves into the space between plates beyond a predetermined point.

11. Mechanism as defined in claim 10, wherein the ratchet with the greater number of teeth functions to permit the outer ends of the plates to move toward each other and the ratchet with the lesser number of teeth functions to spread the outer ends of the plates.

12. In a loom, a picker stick, a pair of plates between which the picker stick travels and by which its motion may be dampened frictionally, and armor for said stick comprising a U-shaped guard straddling the stick, the legs of which are spaced apart a distance greater than the thickness of said stick, and a mounting for th guard comprising a pivot through the stick and the crosspiece of the guard disposed parallel to the plane of movement of the stick.

13. In a loom, means for checking outward movement of the picker stick in response to a blow delivered to the picker head by the shuttle, which comprises a pair of plates between which the stick travels and by which its motion may be 7 dampened. frictionally, automatic means responsive to the friction exerted by said plates upon the moving stickfor varying the spacing of said plates to maintain the checking efiect substan tially constant throughout a period ofconsecutive picks,a pair of parallel pivots upon which the plates are mounted intermediate their ends, and a second pair of pivots parallel to the first pair upon which the outer ends of the plates are mounted, said automatic means functioning to move said second pair of pivots transversely in opposite directions.

14. In a loom, means for checking outward movement of the picker stick in response to a blow, delivered to the picker head by the shuttle, which comprises a pair of plates between which the stick travels and by which its motion may be dampened frictionally, and automatic means responsive to variables in the load imposed upon the checking means for varying the spacing of said plates, whereby the checking effect upon the picker stick may be maintained substantially constant throughout a period of consecutive picks.

' 15. In a loom having a lay and bracket means rigid therewith, two parallel pivots on said bracket means disposed in a plane transverse to the length of the lay, means for checking outward movement of a picker stick in response to a blow delivered to the picker head by the shuttle, which comprises a pair of plates mounted on said pivots between which plates the stick travels and by which its motion may be dampened frictionally, and automatic means responsive to variables in the load imposed upon the checking means for varying the spacing of the plates, whereby the checking effect upon the picker stick may be maintained substantially constant throughout a period of consecutive picks.

16. In a loom, means for checking outward movement of the picker stick in response to a blow delivered to the picker head by the shuttle, which comprises a pair of plates between which the picker stick travels and by which its motion may be dampened frictionally, and means responsive to the degree of load imposed upon the of maintaining the throw of the picker stick substantially uniform throughout a period of consecutive picks.

17. In a loom, means for checking outboard movement of the picker stick in response to a blow delivered to the picker head by the shuttle, which comprises a pair of plates between which the picker stick travels and by which its motion may be dampened frictionally, a pair of bodily movable parallel pivots upon which said plates are mounted to swing through a limited angle, and means for mounting said pivots to guide their movement away from each other as friction developed upon th inboard travel of the picker stick tends to movesaid plates in the inboard direction.

18. Mechanism as defined in claim 17, wherein said plates are mounted intermediate their ends upon a pair of parallel pivots and at their outer ends upon a second pair of pivots parallel to the first pair, means for moving said second pair of pivots transversely in opposite directions responsive to outboard travel of the picker stick for controlling the degree of friction between said plates and said picker stick, and means for spreading said first pair of pivots responsive to the inboard travel of said picker stick for relieving friction on that stroke.

SAMUEL K. TAYLOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Galle Mar. 19, 1928 

